Book Log 2019 #32: Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins

I first encountered Maeve Higgins on the NPR show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, where her wit and humor far outpace her knowledge of current events (it's kind of a running joke that Maeve will finish last, even if she's not in last place going into the final game). From those appearances I decided to read her book, which is loosely based on her podcast of the same name.

I say loosely because most of the material in the book is apparently not from her podcast at all (admittedly I have not listened to it), but rather mixes essays on topics related to her podcast (like immigration and her decision to leave Ireland and move to New York) with personal and cultural reflections. On the whole it works really well, and I got a much better sense of who Higgins is and what challenges she's faced in her career, as a single woman, and as an immigrant. I also got to read the essays with her delightful accent in my head, which just added to the enjoyment.